Solving life’s problems with math

TED@UPS asks: What if a math hater discovered the magic of multiplication?

When Uma Adwani was growing up in a small town in India, girls were expected to become housewives, not college graduates. But Uma wanted more, and she graduated with top grades in everything except the one subject she hated, math. She knew something had to change when she got her first job—as a math teacher.

We are all asked to solve math problems, but in reality math solved many of my problems.

In her TED@UPS talk, Uma describes how her quest to make math fun and interesting for her students helped her unlock the mysteries of mathematics, particularly multiplication tables.

She explains how she discovered a poetry and symmetry to how odd and even numbers work when multiplied, and the lessons they can teach us about life. She has applied this mathematical philosophy to her own life ever since.

As a successful career woman, Uma has been able to move her entire family to the metropolis of Pune where she works. They all now appreciate that the girl from the small town dreamed of something bigger.